Champions League

2026-02-24 - Atletico Madrid vs Club Brugge

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge
Football: UEFA Champions League Knock Out Play Off Second Leg
Tuesday 24th February 2026 - Kick Off 5:45pm
This game is live on TV

Atletico Madrid

Despite blowing a couple of strong leads in the First Leg, Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid will still be pretty confident of earning a spot in the Champions League Last 16. They had been 0-2 and 2-3 ahead in Brugge last week in the First Leg, and hosting makes Atletico Madrid favourites to progress, even if they have been putting together some inconsistent performances at home and in Europe.

There is a chance the draw would open up for Atletico Madrid as long as they are still involved on Friday and the side finished with a solid enough 3-0-1 record at home in the Champions League Group Stage. They scored 11 goals and conceded 5 in those games, although it should be noted that Atletico Madrid's last home Champions League fixture did end in an upset loss to Bodo/Glimt last month.

Atletico Madrid have won just 4 of the last 10 games in all competitions and they have not managed back to back victories in that time, which they would love to change on Tuesday. They were comfortable 4-2 home winners against Espanyol this past weekend and they have won 15 of the last 17 games in all competitions in front of the home supporters.

Nicolas Gonzalez is expected to miss out.

Club Brugge

Last year Club Brugge barely made it through to the Knock Out Play Off Round of the Champions League, but they were a little more convincing this season and that makes them dangerous. Most will believe failing to win the First Leg at home means Club Brugge have missed their best chance of earning the upset in this tie, but twelve months ago they did make it past Atalanta in this Round of the competition.

The side actually finished with fewer points in the League Phase of the competition this season compared with last, but Club Brugge also finished multiple places higher in the Champions League standings. They put together a 1-0-3 away record in the League Phase and Club Brugge scored 5 goals and conceded 10 in those fixtures.

Club Brugge are right in the thick of a title challenge domestically and they have only been beaten in 1 of the last 8 games played in all competitions, while winning 6 times in that run. It has been all or nothing for Club Brugge in recent away games- none of the last 16 on their travels have ended in draws and they have split those with 8 wins and 8 losses.

Raphael Onyedika is suspended for this Second Leg. Both Lyntt Audoor and Dani van den Heuvel are doubts.

Head to Head

This will be the tenth competitive fixture between Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge and the fifth hosted by the Spanish club.

Atletico Madrid had beaten Club Brugge in all 3 previous home meetings, but the last time they met here ended goalless in the 2022/23 Champions League Group Stage.

Prediction

The Last 16 of the Champions League will be confirmed by the end of Wednesday evening and there is some real pressure on big European clubs.

One of those is Atletico Madrid, although they will feel in a much better position than the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus.

It might have been even stronger if they had managed to hold onto the lead in Brugge, but Atletico Madrid will return home with confidence considering that is where they have been putting plenty of wins on the board.

There is some pressure building on Diego Simeone as manager, despite the strong work he has done at the club, and a Knock Out Play Off Round exit in the Champions League would be a big blow. He will want his team to play with some freedom in the final third and Atletico Madrid do have the firepower to move past Club Brugge.

The visiting team may feel their best chance of the upset has passed them by in the 3-3 home draw, but Club Brugge did create some real quality chances in that First Leg. This has to give them some belief, even if they have found it tough on their travels in the Champions League with heavy defeats at Bayern Munich and Sporting Lisbon on the board.

Both of those teams finished in the top eight of the standings though and Club Brugge were more competitive in a 2-1 defeat at Atalanta.

However, the Knock Out nature of the tie may mean they have to take a few more risks in this one and especially if Club Brugge were to fall behind as they did last week.

On that occasion they had the support of the crowd to push them forward, but that is always going to be tougher away from home and Atletico Madrid may end up having a bit too much overall quality for the visiting team to stay with them.